Does a good cue make the player or does a good player make the cue?

I play better with some cues than others
some cues i never play good with

other days i think i play good with a certain cue and lose
i always sell that cue so it doesn't get to be a habit

most of my cues play better until i raise the bet
then they seem to lose the free and easy feeling i had
when i was playing cheap

i have always wondered why my cues tend to dog it when it counts

it is great when we can have serious threads like this to ask such deep questions
 
deanoc said:
I play better with some cues than others
some cues i never play good with

other days i think i play good with a certain cue and lose
i always sell that cue so it doesn't get to be a habit

most of my cues play better until i raise the bet
then they seem to lose the free and easy feeling i had
when i was playing cheap

i have always wondered why my cues tend to dog it when it counts

it is great when we can have serious threads like this to ask such deep questions
Click to expand...

If you shoot bad under pressure it is not the cue, it is one of three possibilities:
lack of understanding of "all" the science behind pool (in a real match real hard long shots with more angles that you like starts to appear, not like practice)
Or under pressure you forget to apply the science
or you have a lot of money the bet is not high enough to get serious and play safe
If you believe other wise you will never be a pro player.
 
bmoretallpaul said:
does the suit make the man, or does the man make the suit. one without the other produces nothing. the two working together can make beautiful things happen. .
Click to expand...

This is a damned good analogy. Well, I think it's damned good.

Then again, I think it's all in the taper.

Freddie <~~~ making beautiful things happen
 
Player or cue?

Lock N Load said:
Do you play good and make your cue an asset, or does your cue play good and make you an asset? Some people think a cue makes or breaks them! I think the player makes the cue good!
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
Click to expand...

Neither, I have 2 nice cue's JossWest & Paul F. Mottey

I doubt if they make me shoot any better.
But I sure look pretty good missing LOL :)
 
I've said for a long time, a good cue won't make you better, but at the same time, it will.

Pool is 98 percent mental. If you have something you LOVE to shoot with, it will make you want to shoot more, which will make you better. It also puts I in a good mood, which makes you play better, like a song playing that you like will. And finally, if you get a "better" cue you will more than likely use it vs. Something different, which provides more consistancy, which makes you better.

So... Yes and No. Will I play better, more than likely. But there is no cue that can replace practice hard work.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
 
A good player will execute with anything...a cue for a bad player will be a good as he plays with it that night...
 
Whoever thinks a high-end cue will make a player.. hasn't spent time around any league. I spent what I could comfortably spend on a cue.. about $340 for the case, cue and Z shaft. I'm just as fine shooting with that as a decent bar cue. I've only done a 3-pack, but I've done it with a bar cue as well. Knowing a cue well allows you to do things without risk of screwing them up, but if you are able to play within the 'limits' of the cue or its variances, then it makes no difference. If it wouldn't be a pain, I'd probably be dragging around a bar cue. Oh, and some cues just have different attributes.. I'd rather try a jump with a stiff house cue instead of a superflex stick. To me, the tip is the most important part of the cue. As long as it holds chalk okay, it doesn't matter if it's flat, round, tall, almost gone.. it doesn't matter how good the cue is if you're unable to use it to it's potential (just think of the slow driver with a fast car).
 
Used to have a buddy around here (he's deceased now) that would do nothing but talk about how cues make all the difference in the world. He would tell me so and so wasnt very good, about a 2-level player, until he bought a nice custom cue. Then he want to about a 6-7 level player almost immediately.

I heard the same story over and over, that it was nothing but the cue. I finally asked him one day if Efren Reyes walked into a pool room with a Cuetec if all of a sudden he was a worthless POS player. He said no, of course not. I said..."Oh"

DCP
 
I hate this question as much as I hate the answers.

The answers to the original questions are no and no.

But, is there a player in the world that does not believe he plays better with a better cue compared to a piece of crap?

Is there a player in the world that has played the game for a while that knows he plays better with a certain cue or a certain parameters in the cue?

If you played against yourself, one of you with a piece of crap off the wall and one of you with, say, a decent Meucci (yeah, let's keep it that simple), is there anyone who has actually played this game that won't bet on the guy with the Meucci?

Let's keep it real and forget the feel good answers. Of course you need to have a skillful player, but to disregard the cue is completely short-sighted. The best archers want to use the best arrow. The best marksmen want to use the best rifles.

Freddie <~~~ skill can be lost with bad equipment
 
I've played with crap cues and they are downright distracting when you've played with something nice. I can still stomp on a lot of players, but I'm just not comfortable with them. A guy who plans to buy one of my cues is buying it for just that reason. He's confident the ball is going where he intends it to go with my cue. Not so much with his own cue.
 
Thank you for your input.

jhanso18 said:
I've said for a long time, a good cue won't make you better, but at the same time, it will.

Pool is 98 percent mental. If you have something you LOVE to shoot with, it will make you want to shoot more, which will make you better. It also puts I in a good mood, which makes you play better, like a song playing that you like will. And finally, if you get a "better" cue you will more than likely use it vs. Something different, which provides more consistancy, which makes you better.

So... Yes and No. Will I play better, more than likely. But there is no cue that can replace practice hard work.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums
Click to expand...

Good input. Happy New Year to you and your family.
Many Regards,
Lock N Load.
 
Cornerman said:
I hate this question as much as I hate the answers.

The answers to the original questions are no and no.

But, is there a player in the world that does not believe he plays better with a better cue compared to a piece of crap?

Is there a player in the world that has played the game for a while that knows he plays better with a certain cue or a certain parameters in the cue?

If you played against yourself, one of you with a piece of crap off the wall and one of you with, say, a decent Meucci (yeah, let's keep it that simple), is there anyone who has actually played this game that won't bet on the guy with the Meucci?

Let's keep it real and forget the feel good answers. Of course you need to have a skillful player, but to disregard the cue is completely short-sighted. The best archers want to use the best arrow. The best marksmen want to use the best rifles.

Freddie <~~~ skill can be lost with bad equipment
Click to expand...
I was trying to stay out of this thread...
..but I liked this response too much.

If anyone thinks they can play their best game with a bad cue...
...they're dreaming.

Wyatt Earp didn't go to the OK Corral with a Saturday Night Special.
 
randyg said:
Once upon a time way off in Pool School:

I had a student who claimed he had the best "drawing" cue ever produced. I took his cue and set it on the table, right behind the cue ball. After about 5 minutes he asked me what I was doing? I told him I was waiting anxiously to watch his cue "draw' the cue ball.
Enough said
randyg
Click to expand...


NICE 1! :bow-down::bow-down::bow-down:
 
Happy New Year!

First, Happy New Year!

The player or the cue, it is mostly player. However I have to say that the cue, the table, the cloth, the balls, all of the conditions are much more important now. I used to play over a dozen different places every week with widely ranging conditions, AC no AC, good tables and junk, all sizes. Cloth that was fairly new, cloth old enough to vote and greasy with use. Fairly fast cloth, some slower and deeper than shag carpet. Everywhere I went I played off the wall, sometimes with truly terrible cues. Had to perform regardless and I did. Now I want my cue stick, whichever one I am in the mood to play with at the time. A carefully prepared shaft and tip, weight and balance to suit. A clean table and balls and if the AC isn't doing it's job I'm ready to pack up and leave.

I can't speak for others but I know I am much more of a hothouse player, I need everything perfect including my cue to play my best. I swap one bumper between two cues and it distracts me to play with one just leaving the bumper off. I was the better player when I adapted to whatever I found when I walked in the door. I spent a few months last year just bringing my brad tool and a little snippet of scotchbrite or sandpaper to the pool hall. All of my gear fit in the watch pocket of my blue jeans. The world didn't end and pool was more fun than it had been in a long time.

Hu
 
Many good players will borrow a good cue from a friend to shoot in a money match if they lost or sold their daily player before they would match up using a house cue.

They would at times offer up the borrowed cue in lieu of cash to play another game/s.

:thumbup:
 
LAMas said:
Many good players will borrow a good cue from a friend to shoot in a money match if they lost or sold their daily player before they would match up using a house cue.

They would at times offer up the borrowed cue in lieu of cash to play another game/s.

:thumbup:
Click to expand...

The key is the player's ability. We are talking about reaching the level in your game where you can play well with any cue stick. Despite reaching this point in your abilities, tough action gets a little tougher if you don't have that confidence factor and consistency you know you get by using your own sword.

I travelled with a well known road player who would only play tough action with his own cue and certain shafts. If he lost a tip, we were done. He would unscrew and sit down. Although he played at a level where he could have switched shafts, he didn't like to do it. :confused:

Best,
Mike
 
When I started shooting, I used to sand my cue shaft down to 11 mm I like the LD.

When I started to travel for work and could only find bars to play at - at times and not wanting to carry excess bagage like my cue case, I started to learn to shoot with a 13 mm house cue like those at the bars so that I could adapt quickly.

Later, I had Lil Al cut the shaft in half on my jump break sneaky pete so that it would fit in my carry on backpack.:wink::thumbup:
 
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